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  • The Tale of The ShipWrecked Sailor

    Încărcat de

    Kazal Barua
    38 vizualizări5 pagini
    From "Ancient Egyptian Literature A Book of Readings by Miriam Lichtheim VOLUME I: The Old and Middle Kingdom"

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    The Tale of the ShipWrecked Sailor

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    From "Ancient Egyptian Literature A Book of Readings by Miriam Lichtheim VOLUME I: The Old and Middle Kingdom"

    Drepturi de autor:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Descărcați ca PDF sau citiți online pe Scribd
    Indicator pentru conținut neadecvat
    38 vizualizări5 pagini

    The Tale of The ShipWrecked Sailor

    Încărcat de

    Kazal Barua
    From "Ancient Egyptian Literature A Book of Readings by Miriam Lichtheim VOLUME I: The Old and Middle Kingdom"

    Drepturi de autor:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Descărcați ca PDF sau citiți online pe Scribd
    Indicator pentru conținut neadecvat
    din 5
    V. Prose Tales Perhaps more than any other genre of Egyptian literature, these few surviving prose tales speak to the modem reader, for they are creations of the universal storytelling impulse, and of an imagination that roamed find played upon experience, unfettered by the functional orientation of ‘most Egyptian literary works. It would be a mistake, however, to think of these tales as being folklore, as being simply and artessly told. Like all Egyptian writings, the tales come from the sphere of the educated scribes ‘and from the ambience of the court. It is true that the style of the Skip ‘arecked Sailor is considerably simpler than that of Simuhe Its nevertheless ‘written in a literary style that is quite distinct from the colloquial language one finds in the private letters. ‘The Tale of the Shipeorecked Sailor, and the Tales from Papyrus Westcar share the quality of fairy tales. They are tales of wonder, of miraculous events in which human beings encounter the supernatural. ‘The Story of Simuhe, on the other hand, is the story of a life as it could have been lived, In fact it may be a true story. Itis told in the form of the autobio- ‘graphy composed for the tomb, and at least one scholar has voiced the hope that the original tomb-text may yet be found. Whether or not it relates, the actual experience of an individual, the story reflects a true historical ‘situation—the death of Amenembet I and the reign of Sesostrs I. But to the Egyptians it was above all a tale magnificently told, which, using all the ‘modes of a rich and refined literary art, created a character whose actions, ‘sorrows, and joys enthralled the listeners. It became a classic, endlessly recopied, and it can still fascinate today. ‘THE TALE OF THE SHIPWRECKED SAILOR ‘The only preserved papyrus copy of the tale was discovered by Golenischef in the Imperial Museum of St, Petersburg. Nothing is known, about its original provenience. ‘The papyrus, called P. Leningrad 1115, is now in Moscow. The work, and the papyrus copy, date from the Middle Kingdom. ‘The tale is set in a narrative frame. A high official is retuming from an ‘expedition that apparently failed in its objective, for he is despondent ‘and fearful of the reception awaiting him at court. One of his attendants, ‘exhorts him to take courage, and as an example of how a disaster may ‘tum into a success, tells him a marvelous adventure that happened to him year ago. At the end of his tale, however, the officials still despondent. Publication: W. Golenischef®, Papyrus higratiques,pls.1-8. A. Erman, ZAS, 43 (1906), 1-26. W. Goleniacheff, Le conte die naufragé, Biblio- thique étude, 2 (Cairo, 1912). A. M. Blackman, Middle Egyptian ‘Stories, Bibliotheca Aegypuiaca, II (Brussels, 1932), pp. 41-48. ANCIENT EGYPTIAN LITERATURE ‘Translation: Erman, Literate, pp. 25-35. Lefebvre, Romans, pp. 29-40, Brunner-Traut, Marcher, pp. 5-10. For additional refer ences see Leftbvre, op. ct, p32. (x) The worthy attendant said: Take heart, my lord! We have reached home. The mallet has been seized, the mooring-post staked, the prow-rope placed (5) on land. Praise is given, god is thanked, everyone embraces his fellow. Our crew has returned safely ; our troops have had no loss. We have left Wawat behind, we have passed (10) Senmut; we have retumed in safety, we have reached our land, Now listen to me, my lordl I am not exaggerating. Wash yourself, pour water over your fingers. You must answer (15) when questioned. You must speak to the king with presence of mind. You must answer without stammering! A man’s mouth ean save him, His speech makes one forgive him. (20) But do as you like! It is tiresome to talk to you. But I shall tell you something like it that happened to me. I had set out to the king’s mines, and had gone (25) to sea in a ship of a hundred. and twenty cubits in length and forty cubits in width. One hundred and twenty sailors were in it of the pick of Egypt. Looked they at sky, looked they at land, their hearts were stouter (30) than lions. They could foretell a storm before it came, a tempest before it broke. Acstorm came up while we were at se, before we could reach land. ‘As we sailed (35) it made a Tswell?, and in it a wave eight cubits tall. ‘The mast—it (the wave) struck (it) Then the ship died. Of those in it not one remained. I was cast (40) on an island by a wave of the sea. T spent three days alone, with my heart as companion. Lying in the shelter of trees I hugged (43) the shade. ‘Then I stretched my legs to discover what I might put in my mouth. T found figs and grapes there, all sorts of fine vegetables, sycamore figs, ‘unnotched and notched,® (50) and cucumbers that were as if tended. Fish were there and fowl; there is nothing that was not there. I stuffed myself and put some down, because I had too much in my arms. ‘Then I cut a fre drill, (55) madea fire and gave a burnt offering to the ds, P rThen T heard a thundering noise and thought, “Te is a wave of the sea.” Trees splintered, (60) the ground trembled. Uncovering my face, I found it was a snake that was coming. He was of thirty cubits; his beard was over two cubits long. His body was overlaid (65) with gold; his eyebrows were of real lapis lazuli. He was bent up in front. ‘Thea he opened his mouth to me, while I was on my belly before him. He said to me: “Who brought you, who brought you, fellow, (70) ‘THE MIDDLE KINGDOM 213 who brought you? If you delay telling me who brought you to this island, I shall make you find yourself reduced to ashes, becoming like a thing unseen.”

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